Classic Pastry Cream Recipe (For Desserts, Cakes, Tarts and More!)

• Starting from enjoying it as a treat all on its own.
• Top it with seasonal berries, cinnamon or crushed chocolate and scoop it spoon after spoon after spoon...Yum!
• All the way to using it for layering cakes, filling tarts, bigne, pastry pockets and of course famous St. Joseph's pastries.

Pastry cream is very rich and delicate at the same time. And for this reason it pairs beautifully with fresh fruit. For example, use it for Fresh Peach Crostata or Millefoglie Cream Cake with Berries. Too good to resist!

Best part? It, literally, takes minutes to make! With simple ingredients and a whisk you ‘ll have the job done in no more than 15 minutes.

• Egg yolks
• Sugar - granulated sugar. This recipes makes moderately sweet pastry cream. Feel free to add or take out 1 tablespoon to adjust sweetness.
• Whole milk - if you want to make your pastry cream even richer use half whole milk and half whipping cream. Skim milk makes pastry cream lighter but in my opinion, it's not worth it.
• Cornstarch - some use flour as a thickener but you can feel its taste in the pastry cream when cooked, for this reason I prefer using cornstarch for pure, delicate flavor.
• Vanilla pod - or vanilla extract. You can also use it together with lemon or orange zest or other flavorings that you can find below.

Prepare egg yolk mixture. In a large bowl beat egg yolks with sugar until well combined. Add cornstarch, mix until smooth.

Flavoring the milk. Add milk to a pot.

Open the vanilla pod in half and using a small knife scrape out all the seeds. Add the pod and the seeds to the pot with milk. Start heating on low heat.The milk should become very hot but not boiling. You know it's ready when small bubbles start to form around the edge of the pot. It should feel very hot, almost burning when you quickly dip your finger.

Strain hot milk and mix with egg yolks. Using a sieve, strain the hot milk into the egg yolk mix. Whisk continuously until creamy and foamy.

Cook the cream. Pour the mixture back into the pot and start cooking it on medium or medium-high heat whisking continuously.

As soon as the mixture starts to thicken immediately remove the pot from the heat and continue to beat it with the whisk until smooth. It will take anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes for the cream to cook.

Let cool. Once smooth and silky, cool it immediately by transferring into a cold ceramic/glass dish (that you previously kept in the fridge/freezer for 2 hours) or in a bowl placed over another bowl filled with ice. Continue whisking for 2 minutes to help the cream cool further.

Cover the dish with a plastic wrap in direct contact with pastry cream. This prevents the formation of the crust. Place the dish in the fridge for minimum 1 hour or overnight.

Make it silky smooth. This is a tiny last step that will make your pastry creamy perfectly silky and smooth. Yet, very few people know about and I haven't seen anyone teaching it in their recipes!

When ready to use remove the plastic film and energetically beat it with a whisk. You'll see how silky, velvety, and luscious it becomes.

Top Tips & Tricks

• Heat the milk on low. Medium or high heat will burn the milk on the bottom of the pot and you will not be able to use it for the final cooking of the cream. If this happens, wash the pot and use a new one.
• Whisk continuously. Don’t even think of stepping away once you've put egg yolk and milk mixture to cook. Whisking will prevent cornstarch setting at the bottom of a pan and as a result you’ll have lumps free smooth and silky custard.
• Cook pastry cream on medium or medium-high heat. Low heat will unnecessary prolong the cooking process, while on high heat you'll risk to burn it.
• Do not overcook the cream. Once it reached desired thickness remove from the heat immediately.
• Stop the cooking process once the cream is removed from the heat.
  It can be done 2 ways:
  First: put a glass or ceramic dish in the fridge or in the freezer 2 hours prior to making the pastry cream. Transfer cooked pastry cream into this cold dish and whisk for 2 minutes too lower temperature of the cream fast.
  
  Second: A bowl filled with ice. Once pastry cream is removed from the heat transfer it to a large bowl placed over another bowl filled with ice. Whisk continuously for 2-3 minutes.

In this recipe I’m using the first method since I don’t always have a tone of ice handy. But as I said, you can do it both ways.

More Pastry Cream Flavors

• Lemon peel or orange peel. Add to milk as it heats up.
• Brandy, rum or lemon liqueur like this Homemade Limoncello. Add a few tablespoons once pastry cream is completely cool.
• Chocolate. Classic pastry cream can be easily transform into chocolate pastry cream by simply adding chocolate, cut in cubes to the pastry cream while it's still warm.
• Pistachio or hazelnut. Pastry cream with pistachio or hazelnut flavor is also delicious. Simply add a few tablespoons of pistachio or hazelnut paste to the pastry cream while it's still warm.
• Coffee. Add a teaspoon or more according to your taste of instant coffee to your pastry cream before chilling it, mix well.